Letters

As Covid-19 continues to spread around the globe, repatriated Namibians, such as myself, are wrestling with the uncomfortable side effect of widespread infectious disease: quarantine. A quarantine is designed to keep high-risk individuals who may have been exposed to the virus in isolation during the disease’s infectious period, to see if they became sick. Since Covid-19’s incubation period is believed to be 14 days or fewer, that is how long the quarantine period has lasted for the Namibians who have since returned home. For some, quarantine is merely inconvenient, or at worst, dull. For others, especially those quarantined without their luggage, like myself, the situation is more precarious. 

Learners, teachers, parents and the government cannot wait for education to return to its traditional classroom setting. The Covid-19 pandemic appears to be under control in Namibia and some education stakeholders have agreed that schools should commence on 3 June 2020, for pupils in critical grades, especially in grade 11 and 12. However, this should be conducted in a strategic manner, taking all impacts of Covid-19 into consideration, to ensure that when school starts, teaching and learning is carried out effectively.

Dr Vincent Mwange wrote a very interesting piece that was published last Friday (15th May 2020) in New Era. The opinion piece that was titled The dissolution of Namibian Parliament at the end of its term argues that the Namibian parliament should be dissolved at the end of its term, i.e. before the holding of the next national elections. The esteemed scholar argues that it is “good governance practice” to do so.

Today with gig economy, so much have changed in career-graded opportunities. Human resources is considered to be the umbrella of all other aspects in people management and shaping the organisations policies and developments. The geography in human resources have changed with the merger of artificial intelligence, is with these sentiments that human resources leaders or bosses needs to rethink policy developments. Human resources leaders’ needs to understand the high level of diversity contained in the economy with the understanding of the ageing population and the revolution of millenniums. 

The celebration of International Nurses’ Day on Tuesday, 12 May 2020 coincides with the International Year of Nurses and Midwives.

Namibia should dissolve parliament at the end of its term because it is a good governance practice. Dissolution is a formal word used for the end of a period of parliament. It usually ensues ahead of a general election for a new parliament.

We are at a critical juncture as a nation! Karsten Voigt, one of the great German thinkers opined, “Anyone who wants to be pioneer must first be capable of contemplation. Thinking ahead is thus nothing other than a form of contemplation directed towards the future.”

Covid-19 has undeniably pushed forward the Fourth Industrial Revolution where workers are no more required to be hands on but are required to be computer savvy and mobile in terms of working from home and independently. This is on top of having other crucial social and technical skills.

We are in a time where the world is trying to find a vaccine for the coronavirus that has instilled so much panic and fear in people. Countries around the world have closed schools, universities and churches. Other countries have now decided to take serious measures such as closing down their borders. Moreover, many countries have enacted state of emergencies to control the movements of their citizens as a means to curb the further spread of the virus.